President Barack Obama is bringing together dozens of advisers and adversaries to discuss how to curb a burgeoning federal deficit laden with Social Security,
Medicare and Medicaid obligations. Obama’s summit at the White House on Monday is the first meeting toward a strategy to address the long-term fiscal health of the nation. The gathering also comes as Obama prepares ambitious plans to cut the federal deficit by half within four years. “It will require doing all we can to get exploding deficits under control as our economy begins to recover,” Obama said in his weekend Internet and radio address. “That work begins on Monday, when I will convene a fiscal summit of independent experts and unions, advocacy groups and members of Congress to discuss how we can cut the trillion-dollar deficit that we’ve inherited.” Even before it began, some of its 130 invited participants cautioned against overinflated expectations. “It can either be a nice press event. Or it can be a substantive event,” said Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, whom Obama appointed as commerce secretary before the New Hampshire lawmaker balked. “History tells us it will be the first. We’ve had these meetings before. There’s always a lot of people willing to point out the problem.” Yet, he said, there is seldom anyone willing to make the difficult decisions to solve those problems. As the nation’s economy continues its downward spiral, Obama’s advisers are keeping their focus on the broader fiscal troubles that have sent millions to unemployment rolls. Taken in context, the summit is but one part of the White House’s larger approach to the coming weeks focused on Obama’s priorities for a first term, including a State of the Union-style address on Tuesday.
That speech is not likely to include plans to deal with long-crumbling entitlement programs.